Recycling old furnitures #1: Recycling a built-in desk to workbench

I’m always a fan of recycling old wood and had recently finished rehabbing an old house. Sitting in a corner in one room was this old built-in “desk” that we removed (the shelves above came apart when we tried to remove it). I had an idea to convert the desk into something useful even though the built in was made from cheap pine and plywood. A workbench/tool center is what I came up with.

The main objective is to be able to roll this in and out of the garage so that I can still park my car when I’m not working (and work outside when the weather is nice). The tool center is now sitting on 6 casters with 2×4 frames for support. I put bead board in the back to cover the openings.

Left section is for miter saw, which is recessed into the top. The middle section is converted to a table saw stand (I plan to build a saw dust bin under the table saw). And the right section is just a work surface (thinking of converting that into a router table?!!).

Future addition: Power strip with reel for the tools, drawer hardwares, a couple of hooks on the side to hang tools, dust bin

Thank you for your kind feedbacks. My “workshop” is my garage (actually my half of the garage). So I need to be able to store away my tools when my project is done. I have the heavier tools (not movable) on the side of the garage along with racks for stocks.

I never made a mobile base for my basement tools, but I can see that many people do. I love the inset miter saw flush with the table saw…and I like the idea of mobility. How does one deal with movement of this entire unit while pushing workpieces past the table saw blade? Are locking wheels enough? Would the locking wheels be just the 2 end ones or more than that? Which type of locking wheel?

This is great! I don’t have an existing cabinet, so I’m going to go ahead and build it from scratch. I too use my garage and don’t like leaving my cars outside so this works perfectly! Thanks for the idea!

Peter_R,
You said, “the right section is just a work surface (thinking of converting that into a router table?!!).”

IMHO the cabinet style isn’t that conducive to a typical router table because you won’t have access to the router for changing bits and coarse height changes…BUT… I’ve seen a router table that lifts up for access, sorta like raising the car hood to get to the engine…and this situation appears appropriate for that. One version has been published in several books…the article is by Nick Engler. It is in his book series and some others.

Of course there are other options, like benchtop router tables, for example.

I never made a mobile base for my basement tools, but I can see that many people do. I love the inset miter saw flush with the table saw…and I like the idea of mobility. How does one deal with movement of this entire unit while pushing workpieces past the table saw blade? Are locking wheels enough? Would the locking wheels be just the 2 end ones or more than that? Which type of locking wheel?

- SawTooth1953

Thanks for your comments. I bought the wheels from Harbor Freight and only four of the six have locks on them (http://www.harborfreight.com/3-12-in-rubber-light-duty-swivel-caster-61650.html). Light duty was enough and I did not have any problems when feeding workpieces into the table saw (this could be an issue I suppose if you plan to feed a full sheet of 1/2” of plywood) but because the table saw is small, I needed another person to catch the cut pieces on the other side.

Peter_R,
You said, “the right section is just a work surface (thinking of converting that into a router table?!!).”

IMHO the cabinet style isn t that conducive to a typical router table because you won t have access to the router for changing bits and coarse height changes…BUT… I ve seen a router table that lifts up for access, sorta like raising the car hood to get to the engine…and this situation appears appropriate for that. One version has been published in several books…the article is by Nick Engler. It is in his book series and some others.

Of course there are other options, like benchtop router tables, for example.

Please let us know which way you go with that. I d love to see it.

- SawTooth1953

Thanks Spence for suggesting Nick’s article. I have considered both options. I don’t use the router as much and my garage is pretty full, so I didn’t want a separate router table. I agree that access for changing the bit will be a hassle (but can be done by opening the cabinet doors) and for raising/lowering the bit, this Rockler plate can allow you to do it from the top (http://www.rockler.com/router-lift-fx). Since then, I have opted not to use the existing surface because the size is too small and the hassle of fitting it with tracks was to much. My idea is to just buy a ready made router tabletop (http://www.rockler.com/rockler-high-pressure-laminate-router-table-fence-and-phenolic-plate) and find a way to attach it to the side of my cabinet with hinges and some braces that can be secured to the side of the cabinets….

Are still able to use the rip fence on the table saw? Would you by any chance have plans for this? Thanks! Looks great!

- Safejosh

Yes, the rip fence for this saw clamps on to the saw table so no problem, I was able to rip a full sheet of plywood with no problem because of the extra surface. Sorry, I don’t have any plans for this because it was salvaged from an old builtin desk. Thank you for the complements.